QCCP May 2012 Newsle!er

Queenstown Centre for Creative Photography

• 2012 Autumn Colours Workshop books

• Mixing flash with ambient light - Portraiture

• EOS Canon Photo5 book ,Capture One /Phase one tour

• Tips on Photographing in winter

• Workshop calendar update

• News from Mike and Jackie

QCCP- Autumn Colours WorkshopsThe Autumn Colours throughout Central Otago have been fantastic. What has made it so good was the mild weather, with only 5 days of rain, above average sunshine and very little wind.

The two 4WD excursions to Macetown and Skippers Canyon was a great success.

Both destinations take us to the remains of historic gold mining settlements. The early settlers planted the trees that in April each year are in full colour. In both cases this colour has the dramatic back-ground of rugged mountains. For us as photographers this time of year is gold, gold, gold.

See the books made from these workshops at the links below.

Autumn Colours I 6-9 April 2012 HERE Autumn Colours II April 13-16 2012 HERE

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Macetown

Skippers Canyon

Dates for 2013 Autumn Colours Workshops are 12-15 April 2013 and 19-22 April 2013

!ese workshop always book out to reserve your place email me info@qccp.co.nz- more info HERE

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QCCP- Portraiture Photography Workshops

Our Portraiture workshops are designed to inspire you to make meaningful and emotive portraits instead of just grabbing a shot. !e small group of up to eight photographers, photograph each other as well as com-plete strangers on the street and indoors.

To be a portrait photographer you have to practice, you have to make mistakes and learn how to resolve those mistakes. !e best way to learn and gain con"dence with your photography is the ‘hands on practical sessions’ with two tutors ready to help out.

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Portraiture Tips

Mixing ambient light with your in-camera flash;Too much flash can destroy the light and atmosphere in a room. To mask the effects of flash try mixing your flash output to the ambient light. The ambient light is the mixture of all the lights in a room. To control the ambient mix you can turn lights on or off, remember different lights emit different colour temperatures; ‘tungsten (red/yellow), florescent (greenish), daylight (white/blue). Because of this mix I suggest you set your white balance to auto ‘AWB’. Activate your in-camera flash by pushing the button with a “flash” sym-bol on the outside of the camera, (it will flick up, it’s tuned off by pushing it down.) The flash power is con-trolled within a menu called ‘flash compensation’, (read your camera manual), once it is set it stays set until you change it again. These built in flashes are designed to work within 2-4 meters so don’t expect too much from them. The recycling/recharging time can also get in the way of catching the moment so be judicious and make each exposure count...... I now need to write at least another couple of pages to carefully describe the best techniques and equipment to use...and it’s much easier to learn about the control of flash on a work-shop. Words are never as good and seeing something done and then ‘doing it’ yourself .

We have two coming up June 15-17 and October 26-29 2012

TIPS: Using built-in flash • Keep your subject simple and fill the frame.• Be careful of anything closer to your flash than the subject because this will become brighter than

the subject and be a distracting bright part of the image.• Be wary of flare in windows or any shiny surface. • Our eyes can’t see what’s happening with a flash. You need to quickly judge your exposure by

checking your histogram and LCD screen.• It can be hard to focus in dim light, your flash can help by sending out a small infra-red signal.• Red eye is caused by light hitting the back of the retina, so what your seeing is blood at the back of

then eye. Help by switching on the lights in a room. This reduces the size of the iris and therefore the red-eye. Use a separate flash that sits higher on the camera, so the light does not reflect back so much.

• Cover your flash with tissue paper to soften the light.• Use a tripod when the shutter speed gets too slow. Remember to turn on, image stabilization when

handholding (if you have it). • Small apertures like f 16 are hardly ever practical unless you want a very slow shutter speed or big

depth of field.• Aperture controls the amount of flash that strikes the sensor. • In P mode- the camera will automatically shoot at 60th second in dim light, (so it’s not useful for

ambient/flash in low light).

Look, learn, evaluate; photography is about taking control of all the elements you can, then it’s about captur-ing the moment.

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Winter Photography in New Zealand

What  is  distinctive  about  New  Zealand  winters  as  opposed  to  other  areas  of  the  globe?  Winters  are  different  here  in  New  Zealand  because  is  the  landscape  and  the  people  ‘are’  different.    The  skies  are  bluer  and  the  air  is  cleaner  than  many  places  on  the  planet.  In  the  north  Island  the  steaming  thermal  areas  like  Rotorua  are  much  more  dramatic  in  the  winter  because  the  sur-­‐rounding  air  is  colder.    The  Volcanos  like  Mt  Ruapehu  Taupo  and  Egmont  get  a  new  coat  of  white  that  makes  the  horizon  line  inspiringly  beautiful.

It’s  in  the  south  that  winter  is  at  it’s  best.  Dumps  of  snow  can  transform  scenes  that  we  see  every-­‐day  into  something  abstract  and  minimal.

The  sun’s  trajectory  is  much  lower  in  the  sky,  this  side  lighting    enhances  the  contours  of  hills  and  valleys  and  creates  stronger  shapes  within  the  landscape.    The  high  level  of  ultra  violet  light  makes  the  shadowed  areas  very  blue.

Mount  Cook  Winter  Workshop  this  year  is  already  full  2013  date  -­‐  August  23-­‐26

Jackie  what  are  your  favourite  elements  to  shoot  in  winter?  Regardless  of  what  time  of  year  it  is  I  still  like  to  shoot  all  my  favourite  subjects:  trees,  rocks,  grasses,  water.  The  water  elements  now  include  ice,  frost  and  snow.    I  like  to  shoot  the  in  early  morning  light  or  dusk  if  possible.  Some  valleys  near  Queenstown  don’t  see  the  sun  for  weeks  at  a  time.  These  valleys  can  receive  layer  upon  layer  of  frost.  The  ice  crystals  can  grow  so  big  that  they  can  be  scraped  up  in  your  hand  and  they  make  tinkling  sounds  as  they  fall  to  the  ground.  It’s  great  being  out  in  these  surreal  winter  landscapes.

Central  Otago  hoar  frosts  are  likely  to  occur  on  clear  frosty  nights  when  the  surface  temperature  gets  well  below  freezing  level.  Ice  crystals  form  on  any  available  surface;  living  or  man-­‐made.    Everything  can  be  covered  in  an  eyrie  white  veil  of  crystals,  but,  to  make  an  interesting  photo-­‐graph  you  still  need  to  Oind  an  interesting  subject.

How  do  you  approach  shooting  on  days  when  the  light  is  dull  and  grey?  I  shoot  in  monochrome  picture  style  and  add  contrast  at  the  time  of  capture.  I  shoot  a  jpeg  as  well  as  a  Raw  Oile  and  bracket  my  shots,  over  exposing  to  allow  the  grey  tones  to  become  white.  When  I  

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go  to    process  the  Raw  Oile  I  have  the  BW  jpeg  to  reference.    On  grey  days    I  also  make  sure  I  have  a  strong  subject  and  that  it  is  the  dominant  part  of  the  image.  

What  considerations  need  to  be  made  when  shooting  in  the  snow?  1-­‐Check  your  exposure  by  looking  at  your  histogram.  White  snow  generally  should  be  white  not  grey.  The  histogram  should  show  a  bump  on  the  right.  Moving  your  exposure  compensation  to  plus  one  (+1)  will  help  or  on  manual  mode  watch  your  exposure  and  ‘shoot  to  the  right’.    +1  or  more.

2-­‐Use  the  snow  as  your  white  to  make  a  custom  white  balance  (otherwise  your  snow  may  look  very  blue).

3-­‐  On  sunny  days  the  shadows  in  a  snow  scene  can  look  very  blue.  That  is  because  the  light  in  shadows,    is  blue.  One  way  to  correct  this  is  to  select  this  blue  tone  in  Photoshop  with  your  eye  dropper  and  slightly  desaturation  it  (in  ‘replace  colour’.)  See  below

What  is  the  best  way  to  capture  fog  or  mist  in  a  landscape?1-­‐  Get  up  early  so  you  have  time  to  Oind  the  mist  and  the  time  to  Oind  an  interesting  subject.  Then  as  the  sun  rises  use  this  subject  to  make  a  silhouette.  Misty  landscapes  or  street-­‐scapes  can  be  wonderfully  emotive,  you  can  use  mist  to    mask  an  otherwise  busy  scene.

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What  are  some  things  to  keep  in  mind  when  shooting  rain?1-­‐Keep  your  lens  free  of  rain  drops-­‐  don’t  shoot  up!  Have  a  dry  lens  cloth    as  well  as  a  cloth  to  dry  your  hands.  Use  an  umbrella.  Have  someone  hold  the  um-­‐brella  for  you.

2-­‐Slower  shutter  speeds  make  the  raindrops  blur  onto  lines  (30th  Second,)  while  fast  shutter  speeds  make  freeze  them  into  drops  (1/500  second).  To  make  the  rain  visible,  Oind  an  angle  where  the  rain  has  a  dark  background.

What  gear  or  accessories  are  essential  during  winter  shoots?What’s  most  essential  is  to  keep  your  camera  gear  dry  and  yourself  dry  and  warm.  Have  extra  batteries  handy  and  keep  one  battery  in  a  warm  pocket.  I  use  Oingerless  gloves  that  turn  into  mittens  and  have  lay-­‐ers  or  warm  clothes  that  must  allow  freedom  of  movement.

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Canon EOS Photo5 Winners win a Landscape Photography workshop with QCCP

This years winners not only won a new Canon EOS 5DMKII they also won a Landscape Photography work-shop with Mike and myself. The workshop was based at one of our favourite workshop destinations: Kinloch Lodge (40 minutes drive from Queenstown, New Zealand.

“Fostering creativity, EOS Photo5 inspires enthusiast digital SLR photographers by challenging their way of thinking and encouraging them to push the boundaries of photographic excellence. Participants receive a box with four everyday objects in it and are challenged with not just shooting the EOS Photo5 object, but also incorporating a specific creative photography technique into their shot, taking their photography to a new level. There is also an ‘open brief’ which makes up the fifth challenge and ensures that those who miss out on receiving a box can still enter.”

Jackie Ranken , Jo Johnson, Linda Duncan , Rebecca Pearson (Canon), Glenn Davidson, Gina Szafner and Mike Langford.

See the link to the BOOK

To know when the next competition is running we suggest you become a member of the World of EOS h#p://www.canon.co.nz/en-nz/worldofeos/photo5/home

!ere are lots of great tutorials to learn from although nothing is as good as a#ending a workshop.

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What makes a great image?

Put simply, it’s an image that catches your eye, it holds your a#ention and gets be#er the longer you look at it. It’s emotive, it has something to say and it’s technically good.

A great image is an image that communicates and what it has to say shows us something new, in a new way. What ever, it’s the personal interpretation of a subject that’s the most rewarding for everyone.

In our workshops and Photo Safaris we are constantly evaluating students images, the reason for this is ‘to learn’. We ask the right questions; at the time of exposure and in the critique sessions.

For instance:

• What are you seeing? We ask you to say it in words? !en we let you know what we are seeing when we look through your view"nder and offer suggestions on how to make what you are seeing more obvious.

• How do you feel about the subject? We offer suggestions on how to communicate this feeling.

!is process may sound daunting to a novice but once you get into the practice of it, it works.

IQ Photography workshop

!is workshop offers Photographers the opportunity to try out the Phase One IQ camera system, shooting landscape and resort Photography and training in capture One so%-ware. Mike and myself will be there to share our knowledge and passion for Photography. Book online at L&P Photo Cost NZ$85

Queenstown 7 June 2012

Christchurch 9 June

Wellington 11 June

Auckland 13 June

9am-5pm

Field Guide to Landscape Photography "e cost NZ$40 + $5 postage in New Zealand or NZ$8 postage to Aus-tralia. For other international postage please ask Jackie. Payment to our NZ or Australian bank account or via paypal. Visit our STORE

Now also as an EBOOK-cost US 9.95 see this link

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NEWS and Links

We were privileged to have two inspiring photographers stay with us recently. Doug and Victoria Cooper from Toowoomba , Queensland, Australia. !ey made a camera obscura in our guest bedroom. See the image at this link

See their blog HERE

We have both entered the Australian Photography awards be judged in Melbourne May 25-27. Last year Mike won AIPP Travel Photographer of the year and I was second in the AIPP Landscape category. We have both entered the same categories this year.

Our Kinloch workshop starts tomorrow May 18-21 .then we will be in Melbourne so if we don’t answer our emails straight away you know why.

QCCP Workshops 2012June 15-17 Portraiture- Queenstown $1200

June 22-26 Volcanic Workshop - Rotorua $1450-Full

June 29- July 2 Fiji Portraiture / commercial - based in Suva $1300

July 29-August 1 Winter Landscape - Aoraki Mount Cook $1130-Full

September 7-13 Travel- Bali- Ubud area US$3570 (3 places le%)

September 27-October 2 West Coast- Hasst $1400

October 13-18 Fiordland - Milford Sound , Te Anau, Mavora lakes $1400

October 26-28 Portraiture- Queenstown $1200

QCCP Workshops 2013April 12-15 Autumn Colours- Queenstown $1200

April 19-22 Autumn Colours- Queenstown $1200

more to come....keep an eye on the website

ESCAPE WINTER book into our FIJI OR BALI workshops.Photo Safari web site for those who just want a 5 hours Photography tuition

Please take a look, and join us on h!p://www.facebook.com/QCCP.PhotoWorkshops

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